Panel back plan for bikes on San Rafael bridge

BAY AREA Caltrans says risks too high for users of San Rafael Bridge

Published 4:00 am, Friday, April 4, 2008

Photo: Erin Lubin

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###Live Caption:Motorists cross the Richmond San Rafael bridge Saturday morning, September 2, 2006. Bridges around the Bay Area are taking on extra traffic due to a weekend closure of the East Bound Bay Bridge for a retrofitting project.###Caption History:BAYBRIDGE03_EAL_001.JPG Motorists cross the Richmond San Rafael bridge Saturday morning, September 2, 2006. Bridges around the Bay Area are taking on extra traffic due to a weekend closure of the East Bound Bay Bridge for a retrofitting project. Event on 09/02/06 in San Rafael.
Erin Lubin / For the Chronicle###Notes:###Special Instructions:MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SF CHRONICLE/NO SALES-MAGS OUT less

###Live Caption:Motorists cross the Richmond San Rafael bridge Saturday morning, September 2, 2006. Bridges around the Bay Area are taking on extra traffic due to a weekend closure of the East Bound Bay Bridge ... more

Proposed by bicycling activists and transportation planners, the plan has met resistance from Caltrans, which says it would cause more accidents and traffic delays on the bridge. The agency has also said that increasing traffic, especially during commute hours, might require use of the bridge's wide shoulder to be converted to a traffic lane.

The commission, which regulates development near - and over - the bay, voted 14-3, with two abstentions, to back a plan prepared by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Bay Area Toll Authority that called for a movable barrier to be installed on the upper deck of the bridge to permit bicycle and pedestrian access 21 hours a day on weekdays and all day on weekends.

It also ordered Caltrans to provide detailed information on the safety hazards that would be created by the barrier.

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Installing the barrier, adding the third lane of traffic and adjusting approaches would cost $119 million, according to Caltrans. The cost of the bike lane changes alone is estimated at $53 million.

Bicycle advocates said they were pleased with the decision, though it still doesn't guarantee access to the bridge.

"This moves the proposal forward," said Deb Hubsmith, advocacy director for the Marin County Bicycle Coalition. "It's going to be very difficult for Caltrans to get permission (from the commission) for a third lane of traffic without providing bike access."

Bicyclists have struggled for three decades to win the right to pedal across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The effort has involved three studies, scores of meetings, numerous recommendations - and repeated Caltrans rejections.

In February, bicyclists thought they had finally won the battle when the latest consultant study ended with a recommendation to the transportation commission and toll authority that the barrier be installed on the upper deck of the bridge. The barrier, the consultant concluded, would allow Caltrans to use the shoulder as a third lane for traffic during the morning commute, while giving access to the bridge at other times for bike riders and walkers.

The recommendation - backed by the authority and commission - would have ended the battle. But Caltrans District Director Bijan Sartipi said that the barrier-protected bike lane would make driving across the bridge more dangerous for motorists, and that his agency would not go along with the proposal.

He reiterated that rejection Thursday, saying that Caltrans supports bike access as long as it's "safe, defensible and doable."

"We could not get a solution that would be totally defensible in court with respect to tort liability," Sartipi said.

The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge's two decks each have two lanes of traffic, plus a 12-foot shoulder. The access plan recommended by the consultant calls for a movable concrete barrier on the upper deck that can be pushed to the side between 6 and 9 a.m. on weekdays to accommodate a third lane of commute traffic bound for Marin County.

Caltrans engineers said that walling off the shoulder would endanger motorists by eliminating the area that could be used by disabled cars and emergency vehicles. They said it could also cause vehicles - including trucks and motor homes - that hit the barrier to bounce back into traffic. Other drivers, they said, could feel closed-in by the barrier. Sartipi said a study showed that a barrier could increase accidents on the bridge by 20 percent.

But Hubsmith pointed out that during recent seismic retrofit work, when a temporary barrier was installed across much of the bridge, traffic accidents actually fell by 30 percent. Sartipi credited that drop to safety precautions taken in Caltrans construction zones.

Commissioners seemed skeptical about Caltrans' concerns and wanted more details. Commissioner Geoffrey Gibbs said the agency is charged with providing public access to the bay when it's reasonable and feasible - and the barrier proposal seemed to fit that description.

Steve Kinsey, a Marin County supervisor who has worked on getting bike access to the span for 10 years, agreed and said he hopes the commission's vote will persuade Caltrans to find a way to make the movable barrier work.

"This is a chance to dig deeper into the issues," he said. "There are legitimate ways to get to a 'yes.' "

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